This past winter, Rachel and I took a two-month trip to Mexico and Guatemala, traveling lightly and sometimes off the beaten path. Our Spanish wasn't great, but good enough to converse with people who were patient enough to speak slowly and clearly. So, we got a chance to see more than the tourist areas, and got some sense of how ordinary people live, especially in Guatemala.
First off, I should say that people in the US seem to lump all non-developed countries into a single notion of third world. Even after seeing just Mexico and Guatemala, we could tell there was a world of difference. We probably felt a similar drop in level of development going from Mexico to Guatemala as we did from the US to Mexico. And I imagine that there are areas of the world where development is extremely low and living conditions are a further step down--especially if there is currently war, famine, or drought.
Not surprisingly, we found that the areas most comparable to DR were rural areas and small towns, as oppose to places like Mexico City. While we did visit some remote areas in Chiapas and Oaxaca, we got a much better impression of Guatemala, so most comparisons are to Guatemala.
Similarities
As food is a big part of humans' ecological impact, many people at DR many have chosen to have diets primarily based on grains, beans, and local in-season vegetables and fruits, including wild edibles. In Guatemala we found a similar scheme, with corn and beans as staple foods, and the markets full of local produce. In Guatemala, however, local produce means avocados, pineapples, and coconuts. Something is always in season--making it easier to get fresh local foods year-round.
We also found that--like DR--much of the agriculture is done with hand tools and manual labor. We saw lots of vegetable gardens being hoed and water being carried for irrigation. The exception seemed to be the large sugar cane plantations of the pacific coast where tractors were common. We heard some harvesting is still done by hand, though.
We saw a lot of houses with similar qualities to those at DR. Houses were often made of clay and straw--especially if you classify thatching palm fronds as straw. Materials were often local and reused, both standard at DR. We also found that, like at DR, buildings often appeared unfinished in Guatemala, with rebar sticking out in hopes of another story being added some day. And when it came to temperature, we felt right at home, sometimes piling under a ton of blankets in the colder mountain regions and sometimes sweating through the night under a single sheet.
Economically, we heard very similar themes of struggling to make ends meet and stay above the poverty line. It must be common to almost any rural area-- this difficulty making money, given the extremely low prices food commands. DR is no exception, though our standards may be slightly different. People here often find it hard to find income work, and frequently cobble together multiple sources to make what they feel they need.
In terms of transportation, there was definitely commonality. At DR we have banned private vehicles and in Guatemala few people have the resources to own one. The roads were remarkably free of congestion--of course, we didn't go to Guatemala City--and seemed mostly utilized by buses and trucks. The big contrast, though, is that Guatemala has a very affordable and effective public transportation system consisting primarily of old school buses from the US painted in bright colors and filled to standing room only. At DR we can only dream of having something like that in our area and so must rely on our vehicle co-op and its three vehicles, while we keep our fingers crossed that Amtrak won't be shut down.
We also found numerous similarities to be quite humorous. At both DR and in Guatemala it is easier to get Internet access than a hot shower. You'll often find yourself woken up by a rooster crowing at the crack of dawn. Both places have lots of tourists and visitors coming through, looking to experience the interesting culture. And in both cases the tourists often experience a little culture shock when things don't work the way they do at home.
Differences
Obviously there are tons, many which also strike a humorous chord. We saw a lot more cell phones in Guatemala than you'd ever see at DR. (Not sure anyone has one at all right now.) And in both Mexico and Guatemala, we saw a barrage of fairly aggressive salespeople, and not just selling to tourists. Every bus, even when we were the only gringos to be seen, had people hawking various items and often making sales. But the main differences we noticed were on a much broader scope.
At DR, we have far more access to modern health care. In Guatemala we volunteered with a clinic giving eye exams and distributing donated prescription glasses to people. Most people had never had an eye exam, and some had debilitating eye injuries or disorders. Many of these disorders could have been prevented or cured in the US, but had instead led to chronic problems, including blindness. It made us feel very appreciative of our access to health care in this country, and even more interested in making sure it is affordable and accessible to all.
Like health care, our access to quality education is something only the upper class seems to have access to in Guatemala. There was public schooling and even affordable public universities, but most people considered these substandard. Only the rich could afford to send their kids to private schools. Perhaps you could call that a similarity to the US, especially in inner cities, but I think it is a matter of degree. In our area, most people can get reasonable education.
Another big difference is the lack of stability and oppressiveness of the government. While we joked that many in the US would say we have an oppressive government elected under questionable circumstances, there is a considerable difference in degree. Until recently in Guatemala, native people often just disappeared, sometimes whole villages at a time. (While in the US, this hasn't happened since the 1800s-- and, consequently, doesn't have direct negative material impact on majority groups.) A huge portion of the population lived in constant fear and repression. Lately that has improved, but the politicians are still said to be embezzling money and end up hiding out in other countries, avoiding extradition. So, while we at DR may disagree with many US government policies--especially as they affect third-world countries--we don't live in constant fear of the government. (On the other hand, if you are part of a minority group in this country, you may have a different experience.)
A significant difference between life at DR and in Guatemala is that we at DR actively choose this lifestyle and standard of living. Voluntary simplicity has a very different feel than simplicity out of necessity. Yet, a certain sense of community seems to come with necessary simplicity--people realize that they are interdependent and learn to cooperate and share. Maybe that's not true in all impoverished areas, but we found in Guatemala that people were very friendly and willing to share. When the bus was more than full, they'd always squeeze in to make space for someone else, even gringos like us.
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